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EDITORIAL BOARD Grace Baysinger (Chair); ACS Board of Directors Chair·. James D. Burke; ACS President: William F. Carroll; Ned D. Heindel, Madeleine M. Joullie, Peter C. Jurs, Peter J. Stang Copyright 2006, American Chemical Society Canadian GST Reg. No. R127571347
The State Of The Union
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RESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH S STATE OF
the Union Address last week was remarkable for its focus on energy, innovation, and m a t h and science education. These subjects, as critical as they are to our nation's future, rarely receive more t h a n a passing mention in State of the Union Addresses. President Bush deserves credit for emphasizing the importance of these issues and for proposing ways to address them. I t was startling t o h e a r t h e President state: "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world."Just as startling was his prescription for breaking that addiction through technology, because this President has consistently argued in the past that the best way to deal with our dependence on imported oil is to drill for more in the U.S. T h e President announced an Advanced Energy Initiative designed to "invest more in zero-emission coal-fired plants, revolutionary solar and wind technologies, and clean, safe nuclear energy" and in new approaches to powering vehicles, including better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, cars that r u n o n hydrogen, and b e t t e r m e t h o d s t o produce ethanol. "Breakthroughs on this and o t h e r n e w technologies will help us reach another great goal, to replace more t h a n 75% of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025," the President declared. T h e P r e s i d e n t also a n n o u n c e d t h e American Competitiveness Initiative "to encourage innovation throughout our economy and to give our nation's children a firm grounding in m a t h and science." T h e President proposed doubling t h e federal c o m m i t m e n t to t h e "most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences over t h e next 10 years. T h i s funding will support the work of America's most creative minds as they explore promising areas such as nanotechnology and supercomputing and alternative energy sources." I n the area of education, President Bush said that "we need to encourage children to take more m a t h and science and to m a k e sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations." H e proposed "to train 7 0 , 0 0 0 high school teachers to lead advanced placement courses in m a t h and science, bring 3 0 , 0 0 0 m a t h and science professionals to teach in classrooms, and give early help to students who struggle with math." T h e American Chemical Society can take some justifiable pride in President Bush's
emphasis on science and technology. ACS presidents and other elected officials have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of these issues with the Bush Administration and on Capitol Hill. T h e society's Office of Legislative & Government Affairs is well-known among congressional staff and throughout t h e Administration as a reliable source of expert and unbiased information on t h e chemical aspects of issues ranging from energy to innovation to sustainability. A recent example of such effective advocacy is a Jan. 13 letter from ACS President A n n Nalley t o President Bush. I n it, she wrote: "As president of the American Chemical Society, I am very concerned about the growing threats to our nation's economic and technological competitiveness. I appreciate your leadership in addressing these threats. ... I urge you to continue that leadership by using t h e State of t h e U n i o n Address t o highlight this issue so that our nation's energies, resources, and talents can be focused to propel the U.S. along the path of further technological and economic progress." Nalley also noted that a "growing national consensus is emerging that America's future global competitiveness increasingly depends upon our ability to educate our children in math and science and on a strong investment in basic research in the physical sciences." It seems possible t h a t we have reached a tipping point in t h e U.S. w i t h regard to science and technology issues. T h e r e have been many reports over the years bemoaning one aspect or a n o t h e r of t h e nation's commitment to science and many calls for improvement. I sense that the nexus of globalization, t h e looming energy crisis, and concerns over issues ranging from global w a r m i n g to science education has b e g u n to focus Americans' attention on the need for concerted action. As chemists and m e m b e r s of ACS, w e have a role to play in shaping this debate. O n e action you can take is to join the ACS Legislative A c t i o n N e t w o r k ( L A N ) , t h e society's electronic grassroots program for u p d a t i n g m e m b e r s on federal legislation and facilitating contact w i t h members of Congress. L A N currently has 11,000 members, and one of Nalley's goals for her ACS presidency is to double that number. T h a n k s for reading.
Editor-in-chief
V i e w s e x p r e s s e d on t h i s p a g e a r e t h o s e of t h e a u t h o r a n d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y t h o s e of A C S . WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
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